Final Fantasy XIII-2: Anyone else actually enjoy the Demo? (Minor FFXIII Spoilers)

[PotluckBrigand]

So I am a long-time Final Fantasy fan, but FFXIII did very little for me, as I know it did similarly little for a lot of people. Despite generally positive reviews, I have not actually met anyone who liked the game, and I have never talked to anyone who actually beat it.

I myself played for quite a while. I was assured by people online (don't worry... I don't blame any of you, Internet Friends) that "it gets better about 20 hours in!" (Being on the Escapist, I'm sure most of you are aware Yahtzee mentions that in his review as well). Well, I put in my 20 hours and I got to the point they were talking about, where it "opens up," and yes I will concede the game does get BETTER at that point, but it just goes from "BLEARGH" to "barely tolerable.)

This is, of course, just my opinion, but I just wanted you to know where I'm coming from before I ask the big question coming up in about one paragraph.

I found FFXIII's combat system to be pretty awful with very little options for customization both in fighting and character development. I liked FFX's sphere grid, but the Crystarium was a joke, and not a very funny one. The story was convoluted at the best of times and outright indecipherable at the worst of times, and the characters were, by and large, intolerable sacks of annoying noise. The only one I was ever able to identify with was Lightning, and not because I sympathized with her plight, but because she punched people in the face, and that was all I wanted to do when I was watching the (admittedly beautiful) cutscenes.

So that's why I was surprised when I downloaded the FFXIII-2 demo on a lark and found myself actually having fun and being sad when it was over.

They haven't fixed everything. The battle system is largely unchanged in basic structure, with the most prominent added feature being the ability to change party leaders on the fly (don't get me wrong though... this is itself a MASSIVE bonus). Noel seems like an interesting protagonist. They don't give you a lot of background in the demo, but I gathered that he is perhaps from some distant ruined future and he is on a sojourn to fix the mistakes of the past or something? I'm not sure about that, but it's WAY more interesting and has a lot more potential for cool narrative than... whatever the hell was going on in FXIII. I mean, sure, time-travel plots are a pretty overdone trope by now, but I'll take a tried and true template over L'Cie and Fal'cie and Cocoon and skinny Barrett driving a race car and... man... I can't believe I sunk 30 hours into that turd.

Anyway... my question is: What do you guys think? I'm honestly kind of confused because I'm not really used to SquareEnix FIXING problems, but I may actually end up picking this one up in a couple weeks when it comes out based on the strength of the demo, and I'm curious if anyone else has had a similar experience.

(Also: recruitable Tonberries! Those two words alone are almost worth the price of admission. They saved FF8.. maybe they'll save 13!)

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Hmm I may check the demo out. However, I feel like I would be letting myself down if I didn't wait to see what the general opinion is of it after it is released 'fool me once...'etc.

I guess I felt burned by FF13 I was really looking forward to it. I don't trust them not to do it again. :<

The addition of a moogle will not tempt me! I shall resist!

 

[PotluckBrigand]

Haha... Yeah I didn't mention the moogle. I don't care much for them personally, but I know people like them, so I thought it would be unfair to mention it as a "con."

I didn't mention Serah, though. Not having beat FFXIII I don't know what her deal is, really. (Wasn't she going to get married to Snow? Did he finally get busted by Chris Hanssen for fooling around with a twelve-year old girl?) She's all right, though. Pretty nondescript in the demo. Even so, that's a hell of an improvement over Hope and Vanille. If there's a hell, I imagine it being an eternity stuck between the two of them having a conversation about how YOU SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP HOPE! HAVE NO FEAR FEAR IS THE MINDKILLER!

In fact, the Moogle has more character development in the demo than Serah herself does. Hopefully that maintains throughout the entire narrative.

EDIT: I don't like her outfit though. I sorta like Noel's like... weird... bloomer things, but Serah dresses in the now-typical style of clothing in Final Fantasy where there are unnecessary peek-a-boo holes in places on her dress. Tetsuya Nomura has been working for Square since FFVII (which, awesome as it may be, I think we can safely admit didn't have the BEST character designs, artistically), and especially since FFX his designs have just been getting weirder and weirder in my opinion. I will say, though, I appreciate the level of equality in exposed flesh for men and women. If you could say one thing good about Nomura's work, I suppose you could say it's not as misogynistic as a lot of work in the videogaming field these days.

 

[Ragnarok185]

I loved FFXIII, it was a great game. alot of people don't realize that the story demanded that FFXIII be linear. but thats not the topic.

did I like the demo? well I, like most people was pissed when I could not as lightning for most of the game. however i hear she is a major plot point in the story.

I for one really like the battle system they use. it looks simple but actually quite strategic. don't really like Serah(although I could just still be angry) but Noel makes up for it. AND Snow is nowhere to be found(thank the Maker for that)

I'll give the demo a 8/10.

although FFXIII-2 is still a day one purchase for me

 

[Aurgelmir]

Sounds like I should give this demo a go. FFXIII was a big let down for me, in every way.
Let's just hope 15 becomes even better, and that Square realize they have no idea how to make an MMO

 

[PotluckBrigand]

Also: Apparently my Gamestop pre-order comes with a different costume for Serah, which I think looks a lot better haha.

So that's one complaint they've already solved!

Is Nomura hiding in my closet?

 

[go-10]

well I thought it was the same as 13, the so called town was just a part of the dungeon that had people in it and the demo didn't have any exploration, just to paths to take that lead to the same place :/ I did like Noel and Serah so that's a plus still one of the reasons I played through 13 and somewhat enjoyed it was Lightning, I fell in love with her character and I hear you only use her like 3 times for 20 minutes and I can't help but think that Mog is Lightning from the future disguising herself in order to not be detected by Atlas

 

[yuval152]

I never play any ff game,so in my pov the combat sucked.(again,never played an FF game),and also did anyone else notice that in combat the girl gets bigger,and then shrinks?

 

[NorthernStar]

I loved FFXIII and beat it. That being said, I'm one of those rare people that actually enjoyed the first 20 hours more than the rest. I play games mostly for the story, which is why I actually liked the story-heavy first half of the game.

When I first started playing the demo, I wasn't amused. The character models just seemed bland, the new menu way less slick than the previous one, Noel annoyed the heck out of me, and the game just seemed too campy, where the first one was actually quite serious. (Take one look at Chocolina and the Moogle and you'll know what I mean). I don't know why, but I also got the feeling the localisation wasn't as good as in the previous game. Of course it's hard to draw conclusions from just a 20 minute demo, but there were some lines in there that actually struck me as being 'weirdly phrased'. Then again, I'm a translator, so this could be just my own pet peeve.

However, after a while I found myself liking the battle system and getting into the flow of the game. I'm not a big fan of the Pokemon system (I prefer a fleshed out companion character), but it does seem like fun. I think that I'll be able to enjoy this game when I play it from start to finish. Still, I have a sinking suspicion that I will like FFXIII more than I'll like this sequel.

 

[go-10]

why do people hate Mog's voice so much, the other thread is full of "his voice makes me want to kick myself in the face with my fist!" I thought it was cute and felt right, dunno why his voice was really enjoyable for me, Vanille on the other hand now that's a hideous voice

 

[wooty]

On my second run through of XIII now and I'm enjoying it wholely. I did diligently play the shit out of it when it first came out and loved it. Not true to formula, but still enjoyable.

I dont think I'll play the demo though, each Final Fantasy for me has always been a step into the unknown. The less I know, the more I enjoy it as I thrive off frustration in games, it keeps me going. Just need to grind the hell out of XIII again to complete it before the sequels release date.

 

[CrashBang]

(Wasn't she going to get married to Snow? Did he finally get busted by Chris Hanssen for fooling around with a twelve-year old girl?)

This made me lol so much, I was thinking the same thing when playing through it as well.

OT: I got to the final boss in FFXIII and it pushed my tolerance to the limit. You can't believe you wasted 30 hours on that shit? I wasted 70! More fool me, I know, I'm such a tit.
But if you enjoyed the demo then I'll download it and check it out. I love being pleasantly surprised.

 

[AyreonMaiden]

Hah, I'm one of those weirdoes who liked the linear bit of FFXIII because the moment it opened up, a stupid grinding wall also appeared which I had to climb over. I was diligent with my leveling and all for the first 30 hours, and in an instant of entering Gran Pulse every last enemy felt like a boss fight. That is beyond stupid. I gave up because I hated when it opened up.

But, I played the demo, and my only beef is that the animations are iffy as shit when you're walking around town. Really glidey, almost.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I loved FFXIII, it was a great game. alot of people don't realize that the story demanded that FFXIII be linear. but thats not the topic.

did I like the demo? well I, like most people was pissed when I could not as lightning for most of the game. however i hear she is a major plot point in the story.

I for one really like the battle system they use. it looks simple but actually quite strategic. don't really like Serah(although I could just still be angry) but Noel makes up for it. AND Snow is nowhere to be found(thank the Maker for that)

I'll give the demo a 8/10.

although FFXIII-2 is still a day one purchase for me

Same for me in all accounts, I was seriously hoping I would get to play as Lightning for a bit in the demo since, from what I understand she will be used slightly different in combat.

This was a fun demo anyways, or at least as much fun as a demo can be without going too much into the game and ruin some things.

Not much of a fan of Serah either but my opinion might change when I get the game. Pre-ordered it a while ago and this demo didn't change my mind of cancelling it.

 

[DustyDrB]

I loved FFXIII, it was a great game. alot of people don't realize that the story demanded that FFXIII be linear. but thats not the topic.

did I like the demo? well I, like most people was pissed when I could not as lightning for most of the game. however i hear she is a major plot point in the story.

I for one really like the battle system they use. it looks simple but actually quite strategic. don't really like Serah(although I could just still be angry) but Noel makes up for it. AND Snow is nowhere to be found(thank the Maker for that)

I'll give the demo a 8/10.

although FFXIII-2 is still a day one purchase for me

I don't think the story demanded the first many hours set on a path literally the size of a single pen-drawn line. Linear isn't the right word. It's more like claustrophobic.

 

[Terramax]

Not played the demo so a question: Is it still a corridor game, or is there exploration?

 

[DirgeNovak]

[...]AND Snow is nowhere to be found(thank the Maker for that)

Snow will be in the game. And he looks even more like a ponce.

Spoiler: Behold

Yes, that's a mullet and a V-neck. Outstanding.

OT: It was pretty good. I'll pick the game up once I'm done with XIII-1, even though the ending's been completely spoiled to me.